Just A Little Push
by Gingerfloss
Summary: (Drabble) Pepper never showed emotion publicly, a previous relationship had taught her that...


Virginia Potts has a temper, and it's not something she can always control. Usually, the ice queen mask comes down hard and fast to cut off any of her feelings. Her shrink had called it dissociation but her friends just called her a bitch. But it wasn't professional for her have feelings, especially not in this industry, not when you have to deal with men who make more money that the president just by breathing in who seem to think all women are sex objects. Her childish temper had led to her nickname in the first place, especially after she accosted Obadiah Stane in the face with a can of pepper-spray for attempting to touch her when she really didn't want anyone near her. Tony had, unfortunately just walked around the corner in time to see the events unfold in front of him.

Stark had adopted the nickname for her seconds later, and apparently forgotten her name.

There had only ever been one moment when she'd let her temper take control. It had involved her girlfriend.

Looking back on it now, that particular relationship had been doomed to fail from the beginning. She'd met the younger woman when she'd come tumbling out of Tony's bed one morning and had almost instantly turned her attentions on the ginger woman who was attempting to clear her out with as little fuss as possible. Thinking about it now, Virginia knew she'd been used. The beautiful brunette that had come tumbling into her arms was only using her as a way to stay close to Stark Industries, and if that had included sleeping with his PA then it had to be done. What she hadn't realised was what the woman pinning her to the satin sheets did for a living.

She was a reporter for one of the biggest gossip magazines in america, and had slowly been weeding more and more highly personal information out of her lover. In all honesty, Gina had been slightly too much in love to think about researching the woman in her beds history, and she hadn't the sense to question her. Their relationship was perfect, spanning two glorious summers and almost three winters.

It had been at the very start of their third December that things had started to go wrong. Someone had just released a book in time for Christmas.

A very intimate, personal book about her that she hadn't written.

To start with she'd tried to think as little of it as possible, passing it off as stupid gossip, she was reasonably used to gossip by now, every other newspaper was full of it. But for some reason. This one was popular, and only once the head of the media relations team at stark had pushed a copy into her hands had suddenly, horrifyingly, the reality of it hit.

The woman who had written this book was her so-called girlfriend of almost three years, the same woman she was planning on proposing to on Christmas eve. Pepper had to force herself not to scream. She'd been used. Used completely and utterly by someone she thought had cared about her. She'd only just managed to keep herself calm for the rest of the working day, ignoring the prickling feeling in the back of her eyes.

The moment 5pm rang around on the clock she almost ran from the office, completely forgetting to bid goodnight to her boss or sign out, both of which she would get a bollocking for the day after.

The argument had been one of the worst she'd ever been involved in, the other seemed to have no remorse for what she'd do, in fact, she almost seemed to be laughing in her face about, accusing her of being far too easy to manipulate, too easy to encourage and far too easy to tease. Virginia had no idea how it happened, or why, but one minute the two women where screaming at each other and the next it was silent, the only noise the dull thud as the younger woman's body crumpled at the bottom of the staircase.

She hadn't pushed her, had she? Her blind rage had destroyed any memory of what had just happened. She wasn't crying as she picked her way down the stairs, the silence still thick in the air around her as she knelt next to the body, reaching out tentatively to find her wrist, curling her fingers around it to find a pulse.

The other woman wasn't dead, that was a good thing, scrambling away again she checked the other over, so her partner had been wearing her shoes when she'd slipped, so logic deduced that she could completely possibly had fallen down the stairs, didn't it? Pulling herself to her feet pepper retrieved her mobile from her bag, dialling 911 with one perfectly manicured nail and pressing it to her ear.  
….

Maybe it had been a blessing, or maybe it had been a curse, but the chocolate haired woman didn't wake up. She wasn't dead, nor was she alive, and with a little persuasion the courts had put the incident down to a pure accident that had happened when she'd gone to interview Pepper again. There was nothing she could do about the book, it was far too late to have every single copy of it burnt.

But suing the people the woman had worked for in a very private court case had at least in part felt like revenge.

Luckily for her own reputation, a very proactive media team at Stark and bigger things deciding to happen in the world there was very little evidence that anything had happened, and very few people where aware of it. But it didn't really matter, Virginia blamed herself, it was almost as if she had known what was going on when she'd forced the other to step back a little too far, loosing her balance on the stairs.

After that, her relationships never lasted long, handing her body to as many people as possible in a desperate attempt to find someone who could make it feel right. Every time anyone touched her she could remember the feelings, remember how it felt for the one person you really trusted to turn everything against you. She couldn't help but judge them, every man who touched her was a threat, each one could be out to write the sequel to that horrific book. Whenever the ones that had dated her a little longer left it was always the same routine "Why will you never talk about anything other than work? Why will you never tell me how you feel? Why won't you let me in?"

She never answered them, just pulled her pillow back over her head and waited for the door to slam behind him.

Feelings weren't exactly something Virginia Potts ever had, there were few people who had ever seen her cry. If only they knew how terrifying it had been for her to just have such a simple, human emotion in front of them.

* * *

This is based in the private 616 Universe between myself, Lifesizedecoy & Fastpacedjetset on tumblr. I'm posting this for your opinions. Also Pepper is bisexual in my headcanon


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